The provincial government says it is committed to getting a third power line to serve the needs of Labrador West.

Lab City Mayor Jordan Brown says mining companies and investors need additional power to get projects going, and he’s afraid that investors will look elsewhere to get the ore they need.

He says there are a number of major projects that are currently stalled because the additional power capacity just isn’t there.

That includes Kami which is courting investors from Japan to build a new mine within the next five years, Tacora wants to move ahead with its manganese projects, IOC wants to up production once it gets rid of excess waste, the Red Paramount Project is in its infancy and plans are underway for the Julienne Lake project – which have the potential for “thousands of jobs.”

He says negotiations with Hydro Quebec need to resume as soon as possible.

“We need to have access to hydro-electricity at Churchill Falls for Labrador West. We can’t wait until 2041, that timeline will have most investors in this region walk away. There’s iron ore in other countries, in other places in the world, they’ll just take their money and go to one of those countries and get the product that they want.”

Energy Minister Lloyd Parrott provided an update on the plans for a third line for Labrador yesterday. He admits the best option is Churchill Falls expansion and development of Gull Island, but they’re looking at immediate needs as well.

“$450 billion is the number that we think is untapped up there right now. Phase One of the study for transmission is done with the proponents that are involved in Rio Tinto, Tacora, Kami and the provincial government, because we have Julienne Lake reserve up there, have been funding this study.”

“They have agreed to pay for the power line in lieu of anything else, in order to get it there. We’ve also looked for alternative routes of power here in the province in order to supply energy if we don’t have the ability to do it through Gull Island or Churchill Falls expansion.”